Fins trying to organize practices, agents advising them not to

Posted by Mike Florio on March 25, 2011, 9:53 AM EST

AP

It was long assumed that, if/when a lockout started, players from various teams would find a way to organize their own workouts and practices. Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Dolphins players hope to get together for lockout workouts and practices, but that agents are advising them to avoid risking injury.

Though most agents realize that players need to stay in shape, unsupervised football practices can result in injuries. If the injury is serious, players can land on the non-football injury list and not be paid a penny in 2011 once the lockout ends.

Kelly points out that agent Drew Rosenhaus told Joe Rose of WQAM radio in Miami that Rosenhaus is advising players to refrain from any practices until the court in Minnesota resolves the players’ motion to lift the lockout. A hearing is scheduled for April 6.

Multiple players have purchased disability insurance. It’s possible that the premiums could be refunded to the players as part of any settlement or verdict in the antitrust case, since the allegedly illegal lockout is forcing them to work out on their own — and to account for the risk of injury by purchasing insurance.

18 Responses to “Fins trying to organize practices, agents advising them not to”

realitypolice says:Mar 25, 2011 10:09 AM

Wait a minute. Hold on there.

I’ve been assured by so many posters on this site the players are nothing but spoiled, greedy, prima donnas who only care about money.

Why in the world would they care about practicing?

ny82jy says:Mar 25, 2011 10:13 AM

They better organize some practice, that team needs all the help it can get.

hail2tharedskins says:Mar 25, 2011 10:13 AM

The more stories I hear about players’ organizing team workouts, the more apparent it is that the players have zero intention of missing any games. If they were really prepared for the possibility of missing games they wouldn’t be putting for this effort now. I have said it here numerous times that the fastest way for this dispute to get solved is for court to allow the lockout to stay in place. Both sides are willing to allow this to drag out in court indefinitely, but while the owners are willing to miss games in the process the players are not. If the court or NLRB says the lockout is legal, the players will drop their suit and be forced back to the negotiating where they must reach a deal before the season starts. If you are on the players’ side in this dispute, you may not like this because the players will certainly get the short end of the stick in this scenario but it is the only scenario in which this gets resolved the fastest and no games are missed!

bigtony300 says:Mar 25, 2011 10:13 AM

Let them practice…they need it.

polegojim says:Mar 25, 2011 10:15 AM

Many of these guys know the drills, have leadership to run them, and hopefully have sense to simply practice to ‘remain conditioned’ and connected.

jw731 says:Mar 25, 2011 10:21 AM

Thats because Mr. Rosenhaus knows……That if any of his clients get injured working out……It could possibly inhibit him or his brothers ability to drive around Dade county in a porsche….He is such a big hearted guy

If the lockout is declared legal by the court and the players are forced back to the negotiating table, they won’t get the short end of the stick….unless you consider the last offer by the owners the “short end”. That’s the worst that the players will end up with and more likely will get further concessions in an effort to get a deal done.

phintasm says:Mar 25, 2011 11:22 AM

Gotta love the Jets fans on here. I guess their team doesn’t need to practice since they win the Super Bowl every year.

The Jets will be back to being awful once again in a couple years, like they’re used to

thefiesty1 says:Mar 25, 2011 12:30 PM

I smell tampering charges coming. Organized practicing won’t help them anyway. They barely know what to do with the coaches there.

mightymightylafootball says:Mar 25, 2011 12:38 PM

realitypolice says:
Mar 25, 2011 10:09 AM

Wait a minute. Hold on there.

I’ve been assured by so many posters on this site the players are nothing but spoiled, greedy, prima donnas who only care about money.

Why in the world would they care about practicing?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cynics would say that the reason they are practicing is because they know that if they don’t, they’ll be a step behind those that do, and therefore wont merit the same sort of $$$ when payday comes along.

I would disagree with that perspective, though. I think they wanna be “all that they can be”. Their life IS competition, and they wanna compete. They’re certainly not doing it for the fans – they’re doing it for themselves.

Maybe Im naive…oh well.

grcanty says:Mar 25, 2011 2:26 PM

They’re FOOTBALL players. This is who they are, what they do, what they love. Is it really a shock that they want to get together and play?
Beyond that — if there is a deal and there is a season and players are out of shape, they’re a lot more likely to get injured, which will cost them in the long run too.